


But I was sure there would be a Second Season!

by Mercia12591



Series: The Austenshire Series [2]
Category: Sanditon (TV 2019), Sanditon - Jane Austen
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-22 17:49:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21080606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercia12591/pseuds/Mercia12591
Summary: “Why?” She had asked him in his dreams some days ago when she visited him one last time to pull her inspiration from him, he would never touch another of her books, her children again.His answer, when it finally came, was equal parts pathetic and sad: “But I was sure there would be a Second Season!”





	But I was sure there would be a Second Season!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone  
thank you all for the wonderful comments. I wanted to put it out there that I have found two completed versions of Jane Austen's Sanditon, one version is by Juliette Shapiro and the other by an author simply calling herself 'Another Lady', most importantly both these novels end in a VERY Austen way, if you catch my meaning - yes I read the endings first because Andrew Davies has made me so paranoid- anyway I am willing to share these novels for free with any of you who are interested. 
> 
> Well, I'm off to read from the beginning now, Sanditon - Davies free - here I come!!

When she first found her way into Andrew Davies' dreams and mind, quite by chance, Jane Austen could scarcely believe how well he understood and seemed to respect her work. She had been looking for a way to share her work with a new generation and this brilliant screenwriter was the perfect fit. He infused her work with freshness, yes, even a touch of sexiness, which thrilled Miss Austen and audiences alike and Mr. Davies was always so attentive in listening to her whispering and thereby staying true to the original spirit of her work, even when some of the details were altered.

Their collaboration was so successful for so many years that the Lady Authoress trusted Mr. Davies completely with her books, each one like a child to her, each one precious. But none more so than Sanditon, it had been her very last book, her youngest child if you will. The child she had to leave in its infancy and despaired of ever seeing fully grown, completed.

She was dying as she wrote it and she'd known as much at the time, still she tried desperately to finish it before her strength completely failed her. It was not to be. But even when she could no longer hold a pencil, the novel turned in her mind and she dreamed of the happy ending she'd planned for Sidney and Charlotte, her heroine in a wedding dress of crisp white, the kiss on the steps of Sanditon church as they started their lives together. The middle of the novel may have still been hazy in her pain-addled mind, but the ending was crystal clear, the ending was never in doubt.

In the present Miss Austen wrung her hands together, remembering her joy when Mr. Andrew Davies was chosen to adapt Sanditon for the black square modern audiences seemed to find so enthralling. She was so excited and when Charlotte, Sidney, and all the Parkers showed up in Austenshire for the first time, in the week following the first episode, the Authoress could've wept for joy at the sight of her babies. He had come through for her, yet again and so happy was she that Jane forgave Mr. Davies those things that niggled, the incestuous affair which was more than just hinted at and that drawing-room romp, she looked past it fully confident that Mr. Davies knew what he was doing. 

The relationship between Charlotte and Sidney was electrifying and oh how proud Jane was! It was like watching Lizzy and Darcy all over again! She couldn't wait to see the ending so long etched in her mind, come to life for her fans. She had whispered the ending into Mr. Davies' imagination again and again while he was writing the screenplay and waited with bated breath to see the result.

Words can not describe the pain and betrayal she felt at seeing Charlotte and Sidney's ending given wholly to Esther and Lord Babbington. Jane did not begrudge the Lord and his Lady a happy ending, not in the least, but when it came at the cost of the main hero and heroine, well the world had turned quite topsy-turvey and Jane could not believe what she was seeing! Right up until the final moments Jane hoped against hope that Mr. Davies would come through as he always had in the past, but this time it was not to be.

Afterwards she sat for a long time, just staring without seeing, then she got up walked to her desk and taking up her quill, began to write the manuscript she would present to the inhabitants of Austenshire the next morning, doing what little she could to minimize the damage Andrew Davies had wrought, at least as far as the realm of Austenshire was concerned. In the wider world, Jane knew, Davies' un-Austen ending would become canon in the minds of many, no doubt bolstered by the tie-in novel and the illustrated guide which was soon to appear in the mortal world. The knowledge made the Authoress sad and furious in turn. She now knew that Andrew Davies dreamed of a second series when he wrote that god-awful ending, but she had little hope that Davies might have included his complete vision for both seasons in the tie-in novel, thereby easing the blow for fans...

As it turned out Davies dream of a second season seemed dead on arrival, at least for the present and Jane wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.

“Why?” She had asked him in his dreams some days ago when she visited him one last time to pull her inspiration from him, he would never touch another of her books, her children again.

His answer, when it finally came, was equal parts pathetic and sad: “But I was sure there would be a Second Season!”


End file.
